Grain-car door



Nov. 24, 1925. 1,562,804

G. w. STRONG ET AL GRAIN CAR DOOR Filed July 7 192,5 2 Sheets-Shah 1 1 Y I E i ii attozmqi Nov. 24, 1925- ,562,804

(5. W. STRONG ET AL GRAIN CAR DOOR Filed July '7, 1925 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

GEORGE W. STRONG AND GEORGE UHLIN, F ROSIEDALE, KANSAS,

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

Application filed July 7, 1925.

To all "whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Gnonen lV. STRONG and Gnonon UI-ILIN, citizens of the United States, residents of Rosedale, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Car Doors; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our present invention has for its object the provision of a grain door for cars which will effectually withstand the pressure of the grain, may be easily manipulated from the outside of the car to permit discharge or unloading of the grain, and will be held effectually in its raised position. The present invention seeks particularly to reduce the number of parts and simplify the construction without impairing the eiiiciency of the device. These stated objects and other objects which will incidentally hereinafter appear are attained in such an apparatus as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of our improved door viewed from the in side of the car, the door being closed;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the outer side of the door;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section showing the door lowered in full lines and raised in dotted lines;

Figure 4 is a detail horizontal section on the line l of Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is adetail perspective of the upper end of the guide facing or shoe on the door.

The car body may be of any approved construction having a door opening in its side defined by door posts or j ambs 1 rising from the sills or floor beams 2. On their inner sides, the j ambs 1 are faced with metal strips 3 which extend nearly the full height of the j ambs, and in the opposed sides of the j ambs recesses l are formed along the corners thereof, the upper ends of the recesses being oifset outwardly, as at 5, and the edges of the facing strips projecting over the recesses so that vertical grooves or guideways are produced. In the inner sides of the j ambs, adjacent the upper ends of the same, are recesses or sockets 6 and the upper extremities Serial No. 42,030.

of the facing strips 3 are disposed at said sockets or recesses to reenforce the edges of the same and prevent chipping of the edges.

The door 7 may be a single board or metal plate or a plurality of boards or plates but it should be of such length as to completely span the door opening and have its ends rest against the inner sides of the door j ambs so that the outward pressure of the grain will be positively and effectually resisted. Secured to the outer side of the door, at the ends thereof, are facing strips or shoes 8 which bear upon the facing strips 3 and are provided with flanges 9 which project into the door opening and slidably engage the respectively adjacent jambs. The endwise movement of the door, under the friction of the grain and the sudden starting and stopping of the car, is thus prevented and it is held to a rectilinear path in raising and lowering. At the upper end of each flange 9 is a lateral trunnion 10 engaging in the groove or recess 4 of the adjacent amb and adapted to slide therein and pivotally sus tain the door and also seat in the offset 5 when the door is fully raised. The upper extrei'nity of the facing strip or shoe 8 is slit longitudinally and its central portion is bent inwardly to form a tongue 11 ere tending across the upper edge of the door, and an upstanding tongue 1:2 which is adapted to engage in the recess or socket 6 when the door is raised and swung up close to the car roof, it being noted at this pointthat the socket 6 and the offset 5 are approxin'iately in the Same horizontal plane. The tongues 11 project somewhatinwardly beyond the door and have openings 13 through their ends for a purpose which will presently appear.

On each shoe 8, at the edge of the door, is a lug 14: to which is attached the lower end of a chain or cable 15 which has its upper end attached to and adapted to wind on a shaft 16 which is rotatably supported within the car above the door opening. On one end of the shaft is a worm gear 17 meshing with a worm 18 on shaft 19 which extends through the side of the car body and is equipped with a handle 20 outside of the body. i ii A supplemental door section or panel 21 is provided above the door 7 and this panel has hinge straps or brackets 22 secured upon its inner side, said straps terminating at their lower ends in curved hooks 23 en gaged through the openings 13 in the tongues 11 whereby'the panel or secondary door section will be hingedly secured to the main door 7. The panel or secondary section may thus be disposed above and in the same vertical plane with the main door sectionor maybe swung down at the inner side of the latter. To retain the panel in its raised position, hooks 24: are pivoted upon the door jambs in position to engage over the top edge of the panel, as will be understood.

The flanges 9 are provided with openings 25 therethrough at intermediate points of their height which, when the door is lowered, register with keeper sockets 26 inthe jambs, and'bolts 27 are mounted upon the outer side of the door with their outer ends resting in the openings 25 in position to engage the sockets 26. A lever or handle 28 is mounted on the door and operatively connected through any approved means with the inner ends'of the bolts so that rocking the lever will project or retract the bolts.

When the grain is to be unloaded, the bolts are retracted and the shaft 16 is caused to rotate so as to partly wind the cable 15 thereon to raise the door from the door sill, permitting the grain to flow under the door into a receptacle provided therefor. As the volume of grain against the door diminishes, the secondary panel will swing down, (the hooks 24 having been released) and the windin'g of the cables is continued until the door is fully raised. The cables are connected to the door at points below the-top thereof and'at the inner side of. the same" so that they tend to swing'the doo'r about the trunnions as well as to raise it. As the door approaches the car roof, it will swing inwardly andev'entually will as sume a substantially horizontal position close to the roof, the trunnions 10 moving intothe offset seats 5 and the tongues 12 enteringthe sockets 6 to cooperate with the cables and the worm gearing in holding the door in its extreme upper position. In this extreme upper position, the door will ob viously be out of the way and workmen may pass freely into the car to shovel out the grain'located at points therein remote from the door opening.

Our improved door is sii'nplein' construction, is easily manipulated, and is highly e fiicie'nt' in retaining the grain within the car. It is to be particularly noted that the shoes on the door cooperatewith the facing stripson the jambs to overcome wear between the door and'the' jambs, also'serve as guides and stops to properly position the door over the door' opening and preventendwise movement of the door across the opening, aid in supporting the door in its fully raised position, and also provide part of the means for suspending the door and for connect-ing the secondary door section or panel thereto.

Having fully described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. The combination of door j ambs having ways on their opposed sides and recesses in their inn-er sides adjacent the upper ends of the ways, a door, shoes secured on the outer side of the door to ride on the jambs and provided at their upper ends with trunnions engaging in said ways and with tongues adapted to engage in said recesses, and means for raising and loweringthe door.

2. The combination ofdoor j ambs, a door spanning and bearing against the jambs, shoes secured upon the outerside of the door to ride on the jambs,tongues projecting inwardly from the upper ends of the shoes across the top of the door, a secondary door section hinged to said tongues, means for releasably holding saids-econdary section in upright position above the door, and means for raising and lowering the door.

3. The combination of door jambs, a door spanning and bearing against the jambs, shoes secured upon the outer side of the door to ride upon the jambs, flanges along the opposed edges of the shoes to slidably engage the opposed sides of the jambs, lugs upon the shoes at the end edges of the door, a winding shaft above the door, and flexib'le connections between said shaft and said lugs.

4. The combination of door jambs having recesses extending alongtheir opposed sides at their inner corners, said recesses having outwardly projecting offsets at their upper ends and the jambs-haviiig sockets in'their inner sides adjacent said offsets, facing strips 011 the inner sides of the jambs eX- tending to said sockets and'projecting over the recesses, a door spanning the jambs, means for raising and lowering the door, and shoes secured to the outer side of the door and having flanges slidably engaging the opposed sides of the j ambs, said-flanges having trunnions at their upper ends riding in the recesses in the jambs and adapted to engage the offsets at the upper ends of the recesses, and the shoes being provided at their ends with upstanding tongues to seat in the sockets in the j ambs.

In testimony whereof, we have signedthi's specification.

GEORGE STRONG. GEORGE UHLIN. 

